This book asks, how would a stable, prosperous economy of the future look if one started with a blank sheet of paper? Given that the world’s economy is locked into a coevolution with nature, the urgency of this question is brought into stark relief by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and ongoing climate change.
While physical technologies to build such an economy mostly exist, the social technologies, in the form of institutions, governance and policies, do not. The development of these social technologies will necessitate a reconsideration of economic norms: in particular, what is the economy for, and what are we, as actors within it, striving for? This book integrates normative, institutional, political and economic requirements into a systematic framework to drive our present growth economy toward a future planetarian one. It outlines a suite of interrelated policies to increase the economy’s material efficiency, establish a basic living standard, and reform the money system, while along the way eliminating economic debt and balancing government budgets.
The framework and policies together form a paradigm of market planetarianism: the idea that the power of markets may be used to steer the economy toward a desired long-term goal. The methodological aspects of this paradigm are covered in the companion volume, Economics of a Crowded Planet.
Author(s): Fraser Murison Smith
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 520
City: Cham
Foreword
Contents
About the Author
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction
References
Part I: An Economy on a Crowded Planet
Chapter 1: The Economy’s Coevolution with Nature
It’s an Economy, Jim, But Not as We Know It
Nature and the Economy as Complex, Hierarchical systems
What Is the Economy For?
How the Economy Became So Large
Population
Material Intensity of the Economy
Size of the Economy Relative to Nature
Material Efficiency of the Economy
Role of Money and Credit in Economic Expansion
Role of Belief Systems
Prospects
We Have the Physical Technology But Not the Social Technology
The Far Future
References
Chapter 2: Economic Worldviews: Modernity and Its Alternatives
A Brief History of Human Attitudes Toward Nature
Detachment and Reattachment
Western Epistemology and Ontology
From the Medieval to the Mechanistic
From the Mechanistic to the Integrative and Beyond
Deep Ecology
Ecosophy: Personal Norms
Ecophilosophy
Commentary
Future Societies: A Brief Survey
Utopia by Thomas More
‘Conserver’ Societies, Ecotopias and Planetarianism
Conserver Societies and Ecotopias
Planetarianism
Discussion and Critique
Future Market Economies
References
Part II: Requirements for a Planetary Economy
1.1 Overview of Part II
Chapter 3: Normative Requirements
Perceptions of Nature
Normative Requirements Regarding Nature
Attitudes Toward the Economy
Individualism vs. Collectivism and the Satisfaction of Wants
Attitudes Toward Value
Attitudes Toward the Market
Attitudes Toward Growth and Stability
Normative Requirements Regarding the Economy
References
Chapter 4: Institutional Challenges and Legal Institutions
Institutional Challenges
Who Protects the Right to Life-support?
From Tragedy of the Commons to Triumph of the Commons
Legal and Economic Agency for Nature
The Planetary Sector
A Planetary Trust
Requirements for Legal Institutions
References
Chapter 5: Political Institutions
Governmental Foundations for a Stable Economy
Political Globalization
Whither the Nation-State?
A Global Governance Council
Structure and Membership
Functions
Measurement, Verification, Reporting and Communication
Oversight of a Planetary Trust
Relationship to Other Transnational Organizations
Establishment and Growth
Direct Participatory Democracy by Sortition
Cross-representation
Evolution of Political Institutions
Requirements for Governmental Institutions
References
Chapter 6: Corporate and Financial Institutions
Corporate Structure and Ownership
Limited Liability and Corporate Personhood
To Profit or Not to Profit?
The Convertible Corporation
The Business Entity of the Far Future
Role of Publicly Owned Corporations
Financial Institutions for a Planetary Economy
Appendix: Corporations from Early History to the Present Day
A Brief History of the Corporation
World’s Largest Corporations by Category
References
Chapter 7: Policy Development
Policy Development in the Face of Uncertainty
Social Selection as Driving Force for Policy
Start Small
Grow from There
Role of the Market in Economic Policymaking
Legal and Regulatory Processes
Government Regulation
Government Regulation as Economic Guidance
Synergy of Government and Markets
References
Chapter 8: Requirements for Economic Policies
Summary of Policy Requirements
Policies for Natural Capacity
Stewardship of Real Property
Agency for Nature Through Property Retitling
Government Operations for Natural Capacity
Policies for Individuals and Corporations
Policy Options for Material Discipline
Commons Rent Recycling Through a Planetary Trust
Tax-Shifting
Policies for Widespread Prosperity
Distributional Equity, Wealth and Prosperity
Absolute Poverty and Relative Wealth
Raising the Income Floor
Elective Redistribution
Appendix: Elective Redistribution Analysis
References
Chapter 9: Requirements for Accounting Standards and Practices
Accounting for an Economy on a Crowded Planet
Keep the Units Separate
Accounting for Natural Capacity Using Established Standards
Accounting Concepts: Financial and Physical
The Accounting Equation Applied to the Economy and Nature
The Balance Sheet
Cash Flow and Material Flows
Depreciation, Financial and Physical
Double-Entry Method
Tracking Financial and Material Performance in Parallel
Systems of National and Global Accounts
National Economic Accounting
Standard System of National Accounts and of Environmental-Economic Accounting
What Is an Asset, and What Is a ‘Natural Asset’?
Global Economic Accounting
Appendix: Accounting Systems
Approaches to Valuing Externalities in Financial Accounting
The SNA and SEEA
References
Chapter 10: Money and Finance in a Planetary Economy
Brief History of Money
What Is Money and What Does It Do?
Money and Natural Capacity
Governance of Money and Finance for Long-Term Stability and Prosperity
Governing the Money Commons
Existing Proposals
Pure Reserve Banking
Pure Money
Sovereign Money Creation
References
Chapter 11: Monetary and Financial Requirements
Proposals Compared
Norms
Institutions and Technologies
A Global Monetary Authority
A Public Financial Rating Agency
I Am My Own Bank
Policies and Legislation
Monetary Governance
Nationalizing the Currency
Financial Regulation
References
Chapter 12: Economic Controls 1: Principles and Requirements
General Principles
(1) Material Discipline
(2) Economic Stability
(3) Widespread Prosperity
(4) Innovation Through Markets
Quid Pro Quo with Nature
Common Capacity Ownership and Rent
Role of Government as Steward of Capacity
Function of Economic Instruments
Functional Criteria
Summary of Requirements
References
Chapter 13: Economic Controls 2: Currency and Fees
New Currency Creation
Common Capacity Fees
Artificial Capacity Fees
Natural Capacity Fee
Natural Capacity Fees on Corporate Income
Natural Capacity Fees on Financial Trades
Uses of Common Capacity Fees
Natural Capacity
Basic Living Program: Income, Health and Dependent Care, Education
Appendix: Potential Revenue from Common Capacity Fees
Potential Revenue from Artificial Capacity Fees
Illustrative Schedule of Natural Capacity Fees Using Asset Brackets for US Businesses
References
Chapter 14: Economic Controls 3: Taxation
Progressive Consumption Tax
Taxes on Material Flows
Material Intensity Tax—Introduction
Tax-Shifting on Income
Material Intensity Tax Rates and Revenue
Effects
Taxes on Ownership
Property Taxes
Capital Gains Taxes
Taxation Policy
Tax Code
References
Chapter 15: Economic Controls 4: Subsidies, Incentives and Market Instruments
Subsidies and Incentives
Subsidies
Material Efficiency Subsidies
Natural Capacity Subsidies
Incentives
Market Instruments
Tradable Quotas
Financial Instruments
Natural Capacity Share-Ownership
References
Part III: How Will We Get There?
Chapter 16: Pathway Toward a Planetary Economy
Introduction
The Economy and Economics of the Future
Harnessing Markets for Collective Ends
Combining Instruments for Economic Redirection
Basic Living Program Through Common Capacity Fees
Taxes and Redistribution
Income and Payroll Taxes
Material Intensity Tax
Other Taxes
Total Tax Revenues
Effects on Corporate Incomes
Elective Redistribution
Effects on Individual Incomes
Natural Capacity Fees
Sovereign Money Creation
Government Budget Projection and Capital Flows
International Implications
Appendix: Assumptions and Data for Economic Projection
Baseline Data and Period Covered
Economic Instruments
Basic Living Program
Income and Payroll Taxes
Material Intensity Tax
Other Taxes
US Budget Projection
Budget Categories
Budget Projection Method
References
Chapter 17: A Manifesto for Market Planetarianism
Declarations
On a Crowded Planet, Everybody Is in It Together
Widespread Prosperity Begets Material Discipline; Both Are Needed for Economic and Social Stability
Governance Must Be Inclusionary
Public Money Belongs to the People
A Basic Living Standard Is a Basic Human Right
Tax Social Bads, Not Social Goods
Guide the Markets and Let Them Do Their Work
Proposals
References
Chapter 18: A Planetarian Society
From Globalism to Planetarianism
Perceptions, Norms and Ethics
Falling off the Edge of History
Growth and Prosperity
Planetarian Society: A Vision
A World of Opportunity, a World of Tranquility
The Storm Before the Calm
From Exploitative Capitalism to Regenerative Capacitism
American Capacitism
Coda: A Chance to Beat the Evolutionary Odds
References
Index
